Railway blames BMC for train delays due to floods

This year, Mumbaikars experienced the same nightmare of stalled trains as the Central Railways alleged that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is to blame for not cleaning the nalla (drain) at Kurla, due to which storm water accumulated on the railway tracks.

On July 9, there was extensive flooding at the Kurla junction, due to which Kurla-Vidyavihar became submerged. The flooded tracks led to all the rail services of the Central line being disrupted. Kurla is the main junction of the central line, and if rail services are disrupted on this junction, the main line, Harbour Line, as well as the services of the western suburbs are effected.

The water took a long time to recede, leading to continued railway disruptions. The Bramhanwadi nalla at Kurla was overflowing according to authorities. Rahul Jain, the divisional manager of the Central Railway has written a letter to the civic chief Subodh Kumar regarding the matter.

Despite the railways carrying out desilting, and measures such as pumping out the water from the tracks, commuters continued to suffer. Jain has requested the BMC to find a temporary solution for these problems, but they are yet to address this issue.